The leader of the Measure D campaign has cut a big swath in Santa Cruz County as a high-profile philanthropist on big projects in housing, health care, science, education and the arts. As he’s become the point man for a trail-only option on Santa Cruz County’s coastal rail corridor, he’s also become a lightning rod in what’s become one of the most polarizing votes in memory.
Coastal Rail Trail
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Measure D: The latest on who’s funding each campaign, visualized
With a surge in the past month, No Way Greenway closed the gap in its fundraising. Lookout details the whos and the how manys behind the numbers as the June 7 vote nears.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
A knowledgeable ‘undecided’ on Measure D? Those folks are hard to find, but we tracked one down
Ron Goodman, a software engineer and bike advocate, shares his valuable rail/trail insights. The former director of Bike Santa Cruz County knows lots more than most voters about the many grays in what advocates paint as a black-or-white issue. What can we learn from his fair-minded assessment?
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Get your head straight on Measure D: Walk the coastal corridor
Measure D is giving us all a headache. Part of the problem is perspective, 1st District Santa Cruz County Supervisor Manu Koenig writes. Our views are shaped by where we live. People on the Westside experience the trail differently than those in Aptos or Watsonville. Koenig explains why and suggests we leave our own neighborhoods and look at the coastal corridor from another viewpoint. He supports Measure D, and says we need to respect each others’ differences and be open to changing our minds.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Opinion: Vote yes on Measure D: Let’s build a trail now
Measure D is the best chance Santa Cruz County has to build a safe and transit-oriented trail from Watsonville to Davenport. We dismiss the “deceptive” campaign slogans of our opponents and explain the facts and objective reports supporting our view. Greenway pits grassroots citizen activists against those who have held power and been wrong about the rail corridor for 35 years.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Life, death and Measure D: A lose-lose proposition for us all
Ryan Coonerty dreams of getting hit by a meteor rather than face another discussion about Measure D. The 3rd District Supervisor says the intensity of debate around Measure D is pointless given one stark political reality: No matter how the vote goes, without compromises, Santa Cruz County won’t build anything for decades.
Posted inCoast Life
A train runs through us: Why the polarizing rail trail issue has divided us in a time that demands unity
What’s wrong with the rail trail debate is what’s wrong with American democracy in 2022, Wallace Baine writes. Why isn’t “Maybe,” or “It’s Complicated,” or “This Is Not My Field,” or “Whatever, Dude” one of the answers to a profound question of how we live our lives, recreate and commute in Santa Cruz County?
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Opinion: Vote no on Measure D
Measure D will hurt our community by permanently ending the rail + trail plan connecting Santa Cruz and Watsonville. Measure D undermines decades of public planning and hurts commuters, the environment and our future economy. That’s why numerous elected officials and more than 30 local organizations oppose Measure D. It deserves a no vote.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Opinion: Vote yes on Measure D
A trail-only option is the best, most realistic option for our Santa Cruz community. It will preserve our natural landscape, can be built now and doesn’t depend on imagined future funding. Measure D makes sense and is the logical way forward.
Posted inCoast Life
Santa Cruz City Council urges rejection of plans to stop freight service in county
Regional Transportation Commission officials have floated an idea to foreclose freight on the Santa Cruz and Felton lines to potentially make commuter rail more financially viable. Roaring Camp, however, says the RTC has promised to keep the lines open for freight, and not doing so could hurt its business. Though it would have no formal impact, the Santa Cruz City Council sided with Roaring Camp Tuesday.